Britain's trade deal with Japan has been thwarted for the time being by a disagreement over the tariff on stilton cheese, exports of which to Japan are worth just £102,000 a year. A milder form of the cheese is made for Asian markets.
Under the existing EU deal with Japan, Japanese tariffs of 29 per cent on hard cheeses such as cheddar will be phased out by 2033. For other cheeses such as stilton only a quota of exports would be tariff free.
International trade secretary Liz Truss wanted to demonstrate that the UK could get a better trade deal under Brexit than that agreed with the EU, even if the gain was a small one in economic terms.
In 2014 she made a speech to the Conservative Party conference claiming that the fact that Britain imported two-thirds of its cheese was a 'disgrace'.
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